Veterinary Assistant Salary in North Dakota
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in North Dakota — BLS publishes the two as one combined occupation, SOC 31-9096 — earned a median annual wage of $37,160 in the May 2025 estimates, 3% below the national median of $38,150.
That ranks 27th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish a median.
The distinctive part is the floor: the North Dakota 10th percentile is 12% above the national one, while from the median upward the state sits under the national figures.
What these figures cover
10th percentile
$33,800
25th percentile
$35,800
75th percentile
$43,880
90th percentile
$46,830
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — North Dakota, SOC 31-9096 (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers). Retrieved 2026-09-16 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
North Dakota vs. the national figures
The North Dakota median is below the national median by 3%. Among the 51 jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes a Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers (SOC 31-9096) median for May 2025, it ranks 27th, and 46th by estimated employment.
Differences are whole percentages, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
Above the national figures at the floor, below them from the median up
North Dakota runs ahead of the national distribution at the bottom and behind it from the middle up.
The 10th percentile, $33,800, is $3,680, or 12%, above the national $30,120, and the 25th percentile is all but level with the national figure.
From there the state slips behind: the median of $37,160 is 3% below the national $38,150, the 75th percentile of $43,880 is $1,830, or 4%, below the national $45,710, and the 90th percentile, $46,830, is $2,320, or 5%, below the national $49,150.
Someone benchmarking a North Dakota offer against national figures would overstate the middle of this distribution and understate its floor.
A narrower band and a much shorter tail than the national ones
Half of the North Dakota workers counted earned between $35,800 and $43,880, a band $8,080 wide against the national band of $10,050.
From the 10th to the 90th percentile the state spans $13,030, against $19,030 nationally.
Inside the band the median sits low: $1,360 above the 25th percentile and $6,720 below the 75th.
OEWS does not publish why a distribution has this shape, so this page does not assign it a cause.
Holding an hourly posting against these figures
The hourly median in North Dakota is $17.87, against $18.34 nationally — $0.47 less, the same 3% gap as the annual median.
The data set carries hourly pay at the median only, so it is the one figure to hold an hourly posting against.
For the rest of the range, ask how many hours a week the role is scheduled before comparing a posted rate with the annual percentiles.
A small employment estimate — read the percentiles accordingly
BLS estimates 270 people were employed in this combined occupation in North Dakota, ranking 46th among the jurisdictions that publish an employment figure.
That count includes laboratory animal caretakers as well as veterinary assistants, in a split BLS does not publish.
With an estimate this small, each percentile moves with relatively few workers, so read the figures as a broad picture rather than precise cutoffs.
It is a headcount of people in jobs during the survey period, not a count of openings.
Against the North Dakota vet tech median
In the same release, North Dakota's veterinary technologists and technicians have a median of $48,790, which is $11,630, or 31%, above the median for this occupation.
Read that as the distance between two BLS occupations in one state, not as a raise any one person should expect: the two rows count different groups of workers.
Same release, same state: veterinary technologists and technicians (SOC 29-2056) in North Dakota have a median of $48,790 ($23.46/hr) — $11,630 above the veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers median shown on this page. Vet tech salary in North Dakota →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median veterinary assistant salary in North Dakota?
BLS does not publish veterinary assistants on their own.
The closest figure is SOC 31-9096, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, whose North Dakota median annual wage was $37,160 in May 2025, or $17.87 an hour.
Half of those counted earned more and half earned less.
The national median for the same occupation is $38,150, so North Dakota sits 3% below it.
How much do the top-paid workers in this occupation earn in North Dakota?
The North Dakota 90th percentile is $46,830, meaning one in ten workers counted in SOC 31-9096 earned more than that.
Nationally the 90th percentile is $49,150, so the state figure is $2,320, or 5%, lower.
Because the occupation combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, the figure cannot say which of the two groups sits at the top.
How does this compare with vet tech pay in North Dakota?
In the same BLS release, veterinary technologists and technicians in North Dakota have a median of $48,790, against $37,160 for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — a difference of $11,630.
The technician median is 1.3 times this occupation's median.
The two figures describe different occupations, so the gap is context for a career decision, not a promised raise.
How many veterinary assistants work in North Dakota?
BLS estimates 270 people employed in SOC 31-9096 in North Dakota, 46th among the jurisdictions that publish an employment figure.
That number combines veterinary assistants with laboratory animal caretakers, so it overstates clinic assistants alone by an amount BLS does not publish.
It is a headcount of people in jobs, not a count of vacancies.
More North Dakota Veterinary Assistant Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — North Dakota, SOC 31-9096 Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, and SOC 29-2056 for the technician comparison (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-16)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates — SOC 31-9096 (via O*NET OnLine) (retrieved 2026-08-15)
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOC 31-9096, retrieved 2026-09-16. Page last updated 2026-09-24.